tableView section headers disappear SWIFT

Question

I have a tableView set up so that when a cell is touched, it expands in height to reveal more information. The tableView has 5 sections.

I have a bug: when a cell expands, all headersCells below that cell go invisible. The console outputs the following: "[31233:564745] no index path for table cell being reused"

In my storyboard I have 2 custom cells : "myCell" for the data bearing cells, and "headerCell" for the headers.

func tableView(tableView: UITableView, didSelectRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath) {

   let thisGoal : GoalModel = goalArray[indexPath.section][indexPath.row]


    if self.currentPath != nil && self.currentPath == indexPath  {
        self.currentPath = nil
    } else {
        self.currentPath = indexPath
    }
    tableView.beginUpdates()
    tableView.endUpdates()
}

If I enter tableView.reloadData() in between the begin/end updates, it functions properly, although the header background turns black, and loses animation.

I have all of the stuff for headers declared in: func tableView(tableView: UITableView, viewForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> UIView?

what am I missing? I'd really like the tableView to still have animations, and keep the background clearColor().

Thanks in advance. I did read through the objective C answers, but couldn't get them to work for me. I'd really appreciate some SWIFT help.

I think the problem is the no index path for table cell being reused.

score 124 · Accepted Answer · edited May 10 '15 at 09:28

124

I found an answer in the console output. Use this code in the header function:

func tableView(tableView: UITableView, viewForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> UIView?

Do not return your headerCell, or your reusable identifier. Return the reuseIdentifier.contentView. For me it's: return headerCell!.contentView.

edited May 10 '15 at 09:28

Cesare

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answered May 10 '15 at 09:05

Mason Ballowe

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3

I get transparent header view in such case. – Artem Mostyaev Nov 23 '15 at 15:39
15

What if you want to add buttons or gestures to the cell? It won't work, 'cause `contentView` won't know anything about it. – eMdOS Nov 01 '16 at 18:50
3

yeah it doesnt work if i have a button... did you find a solution for this eMdOS? – user2749248 Jan 15 '17 at 12:47
1

All my views go invisible when I return header.contentView – Lohith Korupolu Jun 30 '17 at 14:34
1

Add tap gesture on contentView not on cell/view iteself, then it will work. – Shrikant K Jul 31 '17 at 07:08
1

Thanks for solving my issue, but can someone explain why it was happening? – Sagar Daundkar Apr 24 '18 at 10:13
The alternative is to create your own label in your custom cell subclass and that way you can return the view instead of the content view – user1046037 May 17 '18 at 07:21
Hahaha. It worked. Can't believe but it worked. Screw Apple. – Rishab Mar 04 '19 at 14:51
Returning content view removed my formatting of cell i.e corner radius. Any solution ? – Mitesh Dobareeya May 02 '19 at 05:56
I'll use a custom UIView inside the cell and put all the controls/other views in it instead of the cell. And use that custom UIView as the header. – dev_exo Aug 16 '19 at 14:38

score 18 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 23 '16 at 01:36

18

Just to add, I was baffled for WAY longer than I should have been as to why I couldn't refer to the contentView of my cell, when I could quite clearly see it was there. My custom class (using UITableViewCell rather than UITableViewHeaderFooterView) would return a fatal error each time. Therefore make sure any custom styling is setup under UITableViewHeaderFooterView class like:

class CustomHeaderCell: UITableViewHeaderFooterView {

You will also need to register the resuableIdentifer like this:

tableView.registerNib(UINib(nibName: "HeaderCell", bundle: nil), forHeaderFooterViewReuseIdentifier: "CellHeader")

Then this bad boy:

    func tableView(tableView: UITableView, viewForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> UIView? {
    let headerCell = tableView.dequeueReusableHeaderFooterViewWithIdentifier("CellHeader") as! CustomHeaderCell!
    return headerCell!.contentView
}

answered Mar 23 '16 at 01:36

David West

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no need to add UITableViewHeaderFooterView if the class is extended in UITableViewController. thank you for the headerCell!.contentView answer – Led Aug 11 '16 at 04:05
It is not compulsory to use UITableViewHeaderFooterView, I am using UITableViewCell class but the key was to return the cell.contentView rather the cell itself. Returning the whole cell was causing the issue for me. – Satheesh Oct 16 '17 at 10:37
4

adding .contentView saved my day – Grease Nov 15 '17 at 12:58
1

This is the best answer! Never make your headers like a cells guys! – WorieN May 31 '18 at 13:47

score 11 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 07 '16 at 22:58

Since I'm not at 50 reputation yet, I can't comment on the previous answer, so I apologize for listing this as another answer.

Returning the ContentView will make the function work but will remove all formatting done to the reuseIdentifier (headerCell)

headerCell.backgroundColor = UIColor.cyanColor()

This will NOT provide a Cyan color to your headerCell

To fix this, just add the ".contentView" to your formatting lines

headerCell.contentView.backgroundColor = UIColor.cyanColor()

score 5 · Answer 4 · edited Oct 12 '16 at 03:07

5

Table view headers in 2 tables disappeared when I converted my app to IOS 10 - I found the reason in Apple developer API documentation on table headers. When I added the following, the missing headers reappeared!

override func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, heightForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> CGFloat
{
return 44 // where 44 is the header cell view height in my storyboard
}

edited Oct 12 '16 at 03:07

toha

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answered Oct 12 '16 at 01:27

Frans

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This seems to only be the case in iOS 10, not necessary in 11/12 – Christopher Pickslay Oct 31 '18 at 17:25

score 4 · Answer 5 · edited Mar 14 '20 at 09:28

You could wrap the TableViewCell inside an UIView

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, viewForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> UIView? {
  let containerView = UIView(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: tableView.frame.size.width, height: 50)) // 50 = Header height

  guard let headerCell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "MyHeaderView") as? MyHeaderView else { fatalError(" Failed to load MyHeaderView") }
  headerCell.frame = containerView.bounds
  containerView.addSubview(headerCell)

  return containerView
}

score 3 · Answer 6 · answered Mar 29 '18 at 06:58

I had the same bug because I was returning a cell using dequeue method instead of a UITableViewHeaderFooterView.

Solution:

Add a view outside of the view hierarchy
Set the type to UITableViewHeaderFooterView
Customize
Link to an @IBOutlet
In func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, viewForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> UIView? return the outlet

Common pitfalls:

Don't forget to set the header sizes Don't forget to set the outlet as strong.

tableView section headers disappear SWIFT

6 Answers6

Solution:

Common pitfalls:

Linked